Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt was once one of my favorite snacks. In recent years I did not enjoy it as much. I decided to try homemade yogurt. The first time I did the crockpot method with less than stellar results (a runny, watery mess). A few weeks ago I was introduced to The Frugal Girl. While plundering about on her blog, I came across her method for homemade yogurt. About a week ago I decided to try again using this method consisting of heating the milk, mixing in the yogurt starter, putting it in a cooler for three hours, and then leaving in the refrigerator overnight.

Wow! The method worked perfectly. My homemade yogurt firmed up nicely as shown in the picture below. Even with the jar turned on its side, the yogurt stays in place. When spooned out, it is creamy and thick. Not only is the consistency wonderful, the flavor is delicious. It is not as tangy as store bought yogurt which suits my taste buds. I made vanilla yogurt by adding in some of my vanilla sugar and homemade vanilla extract.

I started off making half a batch using a half gallon of milk which made four pints. This week I will be making a second batch using a gallon of milk. This has spoiled me from ever buying yogurt again. Since I can use my yogurt as starter for the next batch, my only cost will be a gallon of milk bought on sale for $2.50. That will produce four quarts of yogurt. What a bargain!